Pandoran Nights
by transcendantviewer
Summary: Bereft and lost, Krieg scours the wastelands of Pandora for his friends, his love, Maya, and an explanation as to what happened to separate him from them in the first place. Continues after Monstrous Occurrences. Rated Mature for blood and gore, graphic themes, mutilation, and sexual situations.
1. Delirium

_**Author's Note:**___

_** Hello again, my faithful readers. It's been a while since I've written something of note to all you Borderlands fans out there. That's changing today with this first chapter of my newest story, "Pandoran Nights". Those of you returning to my work after reading the bonus chapter at the end of "Monstrous Occurrences" know that this story is rather special. I hope you all enjoy it and that I can write it like it's playing out in my head. **_

__**Pandoran Nights: Chapter 1.**

"Well, I guess we better dig in then!" Brick said, rubbing his massive hands together and looking down at the plate before him, completely full with a Skag steak that was only lightly charred and seasoned to perfection. His mouth began to salivate as he stared down the marvelous hunk of delicious meat that lay steaming just mere inches from his mouth.

"Just don't forget your table manners, Brick. You know how you..." Mordecai began, stopping as soon as Brick cracked a dangerous smile and gripped the steak in both hands, taking a bite out of it like it were a colossal meat cookie, chewing much like a cow, a contented look in his eyes as he did so. "...Uh... Never mind then..." Mordecai said, his eye twitching visibly as his goggles were pushed up on his forehead. The others all laughed as they prepared their plates with high stacks of foods of all kinds.

Looking slightly shy in a way that Maya saw as one of the cutest things she'd ever seen, Krieg slumped in his chair slightly, glancing over to her before slowly lifting his mask and revealing his unnervingly white and somewhat spiked teeth, beginning to nervously gnaw at a hunk of thresher meat. Maya's soft, tattooed hand tightened its grip of his bandaged one to calm him as she smiled gently. "It's okay, Big Guy, they're our friends, you can trust them." She whispered to him, her thumb stroking back and forth on the top of his hand. He looked back to her after swallowing and nodded slowly, a soft smile on his insane lips that were now momentarily hidden behind his mask again. Angel and Zero were the only two to notice the tender moment from their perch above the others, but both smiled and looked to one another. Zero projected a "˂3" as he looked over to Angel and she snuggled up to him in happy silence.

However, their romantic silence was rapidly ruined as Krieg had noticed the two of them watching him as he ate and interacted with his siren, shouting angrily and immediately reaching down and, strangely enough, removing his boot and throwing it at the pair. "My banana figs will remain my own, Darkman!" he shouted, whipping his boot. The furred boot impacted with Zero's faceplate, causing him to recoil violently mere moments before he and Angel were to share a soft hug and she was about to kiss his faceplate. He turned and looked down at Krieg, projecting a question mark and holding his arms out in a questioning manner, Krieg simply ignoring the perturbed assassin as the others again burst out into unison laughter, even Angel giggling softly with a hand over her mouth. Zero sighed, defeated and simply projected an ellipsis from his visor, a large grey streak across it from where the rubber had bounced off.

Krieg shot up from his long awaited slumber covered in a thick, clinging sweat and his chest heaving rapidly as his heart pounded in his chest.

(Goddamn it, another memory... I'm sorry, pal, it doesn't seem like we're getting much sleep tonight. Let's head on then.) Krieg's inner voice commented in its usual echoing whisper inside the insane man's cranium. Krieg nodded, shedding a single tear from the sweet memory as he got up from the rock he'd slept on and readied his Buzz Axe. He looked down at the weapon, the blade being his Class Mod due to an afternoon of boredom and a lack of beasts to kill.

"The squinty eyed menace stands beside me and I can only swallow the impeccable gorillas and sodden the sands..." Krieg said in a soft tone, using one finger to twirl the blade of his oldest weapon.

(Yeah, I know, you want to do more than just wander and murder for once, but that's what we've got to do. We have to kill everything and anything that takes a shot at us to leave a trail for our friends. They know what our unique breed of carnage looks like and they'll pick up on this soon enough.) His inner voice replied. (So let's keep moving. Hey, maybe we'll find something nice for Maya while we're out here, eh? Come on, let's look around.) Krieg nodded, his demeanor pepping up at that last part and he raced off towards several bushes, picking a single bladeflower for Maya and tucking it into his storage deck to give to her on the day she'd find him.

"For my Meat Maiden..." he said in a tone so soft it sounded like his inner voice had spoken through his mouth. His grip on his axe tightened and loosened rhythmically as his thoughts trailed back and forth between memories and the present. He then began walking on, scanning the horizon for anything familiar. Finding nothing that he remembered, be simply continued wandering, his eye scanning about carefully for activity. The puffing noises beneath his boots stopped and the soil beneath his feet became sturdier, moister and noticeably harder.

(Wait... Feel that? The dirt's less sandy here... You know what that means...) Krieg's inner voice said softly as to not distract his psychotic partner in mass murder. Just then, the sand rumbled as trails of dirt were kicked up in writhing patterns all around him. (Threshers.) His inner voice commented, Krieg's grip on his Buzz Axe tightening instinctively, a familiar smile slithered across Krieg's deranged lips.

A Badass Pyre Thresher lurched from the ground, combusting the vicinity around Krieg, catching him on fire as it screeched and lifted its front pair of tendrils. Its screeching of dominance was cut short by the creature looking down to see a maniacally laughing Krieg, his Buzz Axe above his head and the flames licking his skin only slightly, creating a sight that significantly surprised the creature as normally, most creatures would be dead after such an onslaught. It gurgled in fury, flailing at Krieg repeatedly, but failing to hit as he hopped and hollered, firing his Corrosive Infinity Pistol he kept around for only such occasions, the bloody craze in his eyes growing gradually with each passing moment. Pretty soon, he stopped, pointing a single thick finger at the colossal beast before him and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"None shall stand aboard my blood trolley without a ticket!" He said, immediately being slammed in the stomach by a large tendril. He was pushed back several feet, his grip on the vine-like muscly structure like iron as he looked slowly back up with murderous intent in his eye and blood dripping from the side of his ear. "How kind of you... to... pay the TOLL!" he shouted as he transformed into his bestial state and immediately tore the tendril loose from the Thresher's form with the sheer power of his hold alone. "NOW ALL STAND IN A GENERATION'S HAMMOCK WHILE I BREACH YOUR HARPSICHORD!" he now bellowed, his monstrous voice echoing through the landscape as he cleaved through several tendrils, causing the thresher to groan loudly and submerge. Krieg got in one last swipe across the creature's eyes as it burrowed back into its domain. It quickly resurfaced, knocking Krieg back a few feet. Other tendrils surfaced around the rear of the beast, flicking fire at Krieg with each writhing motion made. He took it all, burying his blade into one with a satisfying, fleshy thud, blood spurting rhythmically from the now severed tendril. The removed appendage wilted and boiled, the force of the swing combined with substances on Krieg's bloody and sullen axe blade rapidly resulting in an explosive reaction, destroying the next tendril and then the next and the next until none remained and the final explosion killed the thresher outright. Krieg stood in place for several moments, peering around himself for other beings to slaughter while his infuriation lasted, seeing none; he merely inspected himself, even if devoid of some of his higher functioning. His shrunken, wilted hand twitched when he willed it to move.

(We really are a mess, huh, pal?) Krieg's inner voice asked, the monster of a man slowly nodding in agreement. (Well, at least we can control ourselves. You know, you made Maya proud when you did that. Her and me, pal. It really has been a pleasure, all self-beatings aside.) it continued.

"SHUT UP!" Krieg shouted, using his fist to hit himself, doing no considerable amount of harm to himself. It was now more of a strange running form of endearment that the psycho had with his sanity more than it was a deranged attempt to get the buzzing words in his head to fall silent.

(Heh, come on, pal, let's set up a shelter for the night. That's the third one of them we've taken down in two days, someone'll take notice soon.) it stated as Krieg shifted back to his normal form. He nodded, searching about for some random assorted objects to put over his head for the night and settling upon several large rocks, a few pipes, and a piece of sheet metal he'd found building a canopy for the night. He slowly drifted off to sleep, attempting to refurbish more of his energy since the night before.

Maya looked up at the distraught assassin and his shy and level-headed, if a bit innocent, love before laughing at the large white and grey streak going up his helmet from Krieg's boot. Krieg looked to her, smiling softly beneath his mask. (It's a nice sound isn't it, pal? Hearing her laugh?) Krieg's inner voice asked.

_Her colloquium fills my vengeful piranhas with yellow antennae and my fruit bat with polka dots! _ Krieg replied inside his head to the voice within. Maya was still laughing, covering her face with both hands and leaning down against the table, periodically taking in breath and holding for a moment before falling into a new fit of laughter.

"I just... I'm sorry... Just... Look at his face!" she said, pointing to Zero in between bouts of uncontrolled laughter. Zero looked at her, projecting a question mark, seeing the streak against his visor at that moment and pointing at Krieg, obviously annoyed.

"You will pay for that!/ Making a fool out of me/ Sealed your fate, Psycho!" he said, hopping agilely off the building and rising to stand beside Krieg. "I challenge you." He continued, drawing his blade.

"Zero!" Angel said, surprised by his outburst.

"Oh, let them have their duel, Ange, boys will be boys and they've had this silly little feud going long enough. Let them settle it like Vault Hunters so we can get back to eating." Lilith replied. Angel slowly nodded, watching worriedly. Krieg drew his Buzz Axe and the two walked towards an open space in the town where they could do combat without endangering the citizens or their Vault Hunter allies.

As the commander of the Crimson Raiders, Roland walked over to the two as they stared each other down, Krieg's visible eye full of anger and Zero's stance precise and calm.

"Okay. 3..." Roland began, looking to Zero. "...2..." he continued, now turning towards Krieg, neither of the two acting like he was even there. The air was full of intensity and Roland found it unnerving, even to his experienced and cool demeanor. "...1..." he continued, looking back at the table, still backing away from the two. "...GO!" he shouted, standing in the center of town, under the generator that was responsible for Sanctuary's flight.

With a start, Krieg and Zero rushed one another, Zero holding his blade at his side and Krieg holding his above his head. The two stood as two sides of the same coin that was combat. The absolute voice of precision and deftness: Zero, versus the standing champion of all that was insanity, unpredictability, and a lust for carnage and destruction: Krieg. Their blades crossed for one moment, Zero's energy Katana leaving only a miniscule nick in the marred and tattered blade on Krieg's demented weapon, much to the surprise of all the others. The sheer brute force of Krieg's lash pushed Zero back several feet, allowing him to activate his stealth and bide his time, Krieg just smart enough to realize that Zero was using his decoy and not rushing up after it. Precious seconds ticked away as Zero waited patiently, readying his deadly strike. He lunged toward Krieg, swinging with all his might at the psychopath. However, at the last crucial instant, Krieg dived out of the way of the lethal swing, escaping with his life, if severely wounded.

"Dahahahahaha! Your soilent children and penny arcades... can... NOT... STOP ME!" Krieg shouted, stumbling and rapidly beginning his transformation into the form Zero was hoping to avoid at all costs. Krieg's arm expanded and his other cracked and twisted, shortening rapidly. He immediately looked at the assassin and hurled one of his dynamite bound Buzz Axes, the blade colliding with the ground mere inches from Zero' foot as he avoided it at the last moment. The explosion was enough to shatter Zero's shield, a direct hit from one of those would end him. He looked up to see Krieg charging full bore at him, his massive arm and substantial Buzz Axe above his head. Zero looked at the sight, slightly surprised, that is until his Decepti0n reactivated and he sidestepped Krieg's lunging strike. Krieg spun around, swinging once more before tossing his axes at the ground all around him, a stray explosion revealing Zero as he grunted in pain from the shock and shuffled loudly to regain balance, but he again disappeared into silence, moving from the spot quickly. Krieg shouted in frustration, turning back and forth, this time not attempting to avoid Zero's blade. Zero's swing was precise and devastating, but not enough to fell the hulking man. Krieg spun around and slammed his axe-bearing arm down upon Zero's shoulder, the sheer force of the blow pushing Zero to his knees with a heavy thud. Krieg lifted his immense, mutated arm above his head for the finishing blow when Zero dropped the hilt of his now destructed blade, lifting a three fingered hand to his opponent.

"I... I yield." He said softly, breathing heavily. Krieg acknowledged Zero's surrender, shifting back a moment later. The spectacle stunned everyone, no one more so than Maya.

(Good job, pal! You didn't just defeat him, you stopped when we'd won! Look at Maya! She's so happy!) Krieg's sanity said happily inside the deranged man's head calling Krieg's attention to Maya who was standing at the side of her chair, smiling warmly with soft tears running down her cheeks. Angel rushed to Zero's side and helped him up.

"You have bested me/ And did so honorably/ You are my equal." Zero said, walking with Angel up to Krieg and held out a hand. "Friend." He said smoothly as he awaited a handshake as a sign of sportsmanship.

Krieg looked at his hand for a moment before grabbing Zero's outstretched hand and shook it violently. Angel laughed lightly and Maya ran up to Krieg, hugging him softly around the waist, getting his attention. When he looked down at her, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled his mask up above his head with the back of his head now turned towards the onlookers as she kissed him in a soft and passionate kiss.

(This... This is heaven, eh, pal?) Krieg's inner voice said as the two stared into Maya's silvery eyes. Krieg nodded and Maya laughed softly, having heard what his inner voice said.

_**End Pandoran Nights Chapter 1.**_

_** I hope you all enjoyed this continuation and don't worry, it'll all make sense as the story progresses. As always, read, review, PM me if you have more expansive feedback and see you all again in next chapter.**_


	2. Shellshock

**Pandoran Nights. Chapter 2: Shellshock. Begin.**

Krieg shot up from his haphazard slumber, his chest heaving violently as it had since the first night he could remember. He lifted his mask, rubbing his scarred face with his bandaged right hand. He felt a soft burning in his eyes that he'd not felt since his afternoon spent at the train station as he prepared to leave his friends and try to atone after nearly harming Maya during their underwater play several weeks earlier.

(It's alright, pal, we'll make that dream real again soon, don't worry.) Krieg's inner voice said softly in his head. Krieg nodded solemnly as he replaced his mask over his face, now inspecting the darkened world around him. Due to what could have been years traversing the wastes of Pandora, Krieg naturally became accustomed to the darkness quickly, his vision clear against the night that clutched him. The make-shift shelter he'd forged out of scrap had done well to protect him from the elements that night, but his thrashing in his sleep and his sudden start just moments ago had ruined the pieces of scrap piping that he'd use to support the canopy above his feet. Bent piping and dented scrap metal laid at his side as he shuffled to his feet slowly, inspecting the land around him. The dead thresher several meters away was being picked at by passing skags that were paying him no mind. He looked over at them and simply sighed, _consciously_ deciding to leave them be. (It's a sad day on Pandora when the noble psycho tires of killing.) Krieg's inner voice commented. Krieg simply continued on, tearing a tendril off the dead beast and eating it as he walked on, taking small, disinterested bites of the tough flesh of the worm-like creature.

"Uoooaagh! The powerhouse in the bloody stream does not bring forth the nickel fists!" Krieg shouted, smacking himself on the forehead with his open palm in frustration.

(Yeah, I'm sorry, big guy; I don't know what happened either.) Krieg's sanity replied in a solemn tone. Krieg grumbled audibly and continued on through the dusty wastes.

Miles stretched on in all directions; the infamous Pandoran desert engulfed the insane man. Just then, a ping sounded from his Echo Communicator. He feverishly answered the call.

"Vanilla obfuscation!" He shouted into the communicator immediately to signal that he'd answered.

"Um, hello, Krieg?" a soft, nervous voice said over the Echo.

(That's Angel! WE'RE GOING HOME!) Krieg's inner voice shouted with happiness.

"How may my pastel of voracious flower pedals requiem?!" Krieg bellowed with glee.

"I... I just wanted to tell you that Maya loves you, even now... She... She said that she'll... That she will see you again soon..." Her voice was shaking, not with fear or fury but sorrow and despair. "I... I'm sorry!" she said, immediately ending the call.

(Call her back! NOW!) Krieg's inner voice shouted at him. Krieg grabbed his Echo and dialed her number. She answered, now openly sobbing.

"I'm sorry... I just... Why did you do it, Krieg? Why? ...I... WE thought you were getting better! ...But... You..." she spoke in between heart wrenching sobs. Unable to continue speaking with Krieg, Angel again hung up the call, hacking his echo to prevent him calling back.

(What the hell happened? What did we do!?) Krieg's inner voice asked himself, now confused. Krieg clutched his head, for once trying to remember but getting nothing. (What did we do?!)

"NYAAAAAHGH! I DON'T KNOW!" Krieg screamed back, his hands clenching his head tightly as his muscles tensed on reflex. A shooting pain blitzed through his head at that moment, causing him to bellow with agony as memories flooded his mind. His knees buckled beneath him and he dropped onto the dust and sand below, clutching his head. His nails dug into his scalp, tearing away skin and creating deep, bleeding wounds as he clawed at the source of his agonizing pain.

(Argh! Krieg, no, I know it hurts, but we need... Uagh... To remember!) Krieg's insanity shouted at him. He stopped digging at his head and laid on his back, digging his hands into the sand repeatedly to hold from mutilating himself.

"Ah! Now THAT! Was a lunch!" Brick said, leaning back in his seat, finally finishing his meal. All the others were near catatonic after the sheer amount of food they'd ingested, however him, Krieg, and Salvador had continued eating ravenously while the others lounged in their seats, attempting to digest without passing out. Angel and Zero were gone as they usually ate where the others would not see his face; a treasure that only Angel could behold.

**Character Perspective: Krieg**

My sinewy stilts began at the wooden gallows before me! All was silent. ALL WAS CALM! The bird of fire and the dark one had primed the fiesta with garnishing and the spleen warden and the arch had retired to their solicitation cauldron! My Meat Maiden bartered with the mass of furnishings within her and her frowning glow was trumpeting on in the distance. Her shallow chicken fingers stroked my pumpernickel jovially! AND I TYPED IT ALL!

...Then came the chives... The Wednesdays! THE PINGING IN MY GINGERSNAPS! And all went governing... ALL! WAS! NOBLE! The crimson in my pleasure folds, the feeling of the flavors, it was all chivalrous and gold! ...but it felt so typhus... so many wheeling sounds... AND THE JOY WAS GONE!

CAN YOU HEAR MEEE?! ALL! WAS! GOOOOONNNE!

Krieg awoke from his memory with burning pains all throughout his body, his veins felt like fire was pushing through them and his bones burned at the joints. His every movement was sluggish and his body felt like it was fighting even against the insane mind that manipulates it. He slowly rose to his feet with shaky footing and stood up straighter, rubbing his one visible eye to clear out the stinging within his brain. That's when the gravity of his memory hit him.

He'd lost it... In that single perfect moment with his love and all their friends, he'd finally snapped. He slaughtered them all, the entire town, torn apart buildings, mutilated goddamn fences for Pete's sake!

(I... No... We didn't... We couldn't! ...NO!) Krieg's inner voice screamed in horror. Krieg himself was filled with despair. His hands shook softly, his every muscle clenching tightly as he stared down at his palms. He silently reached up to his back and pulled out his Buzz Axe, holding it in quaking hands. He stared on at it, wide-eyed, in a trance. "The... The Meat Maiden... SHE WAS MINE!" Krieg bellowed, spinning the axe around and beginning to bash himself in the face with it. The metal, plastic and leather of his mask crumbled away, revealing his blood soaked face to the world as he continued hitting himself mercilessly. His left eye twitched, the right drenched in blood and obscuring his vision with black spots and blood-red images that trailed the present pictures slowly. In another swing, he recoiled, turning the axe the opposite direction, the blade now facing him. "WE'LL ALL GO TOGETHER!" he bellowed, preparing to swing and end his guilt when a voice stopped him.

_NO! _The voice shouted, pain and fear in its tone.

(An-Angel?) Krieg's sanity asked softly as Krieg barely contained his urge to mutilate and kill himself, digging with his fingers at the hilt of his weapon so roughly, his fingers bled.

_Yes... It's... It's me. I... I've been watching you... Checking to... To see if you regretted it... I didn't know... you... Forgot it... _she replied in a solemn tone, her sobbing evident, even in the psychic link. _But... Now that you remember... You... Want to die as punishment... Maya would be so happy..._ she continued, the last bit quiet, like she was afraid to say it.

(What... What do you mean? What happened to her?!) Krieg's inner voice shouted at the soft-spoken siren. Krieg's grip on his axe tightened, his tendons locking and his muscles burning with pain at the physical exertion.

_I... I don't know what happened to her... When you... Did that... She just... Disappeared..._ Angel replied.

(What happened to her during our lapse? Did we kill her?) Krieg's sane mind asked impatiently. Angel did not reply to this. (ANGEL! Did. We. Kill. HER?!) it bellowed.

_No! I... I don't know... No one else knows either... Everyone reconstructed after you leapt off the city, chasing some Rakk, but she was nowhere to be found. I don't even know if she was a victim... I'm... I'm sorry..._

"Then you will track her... You will be the blistering wind at my back... YOU. WILL. BE. THE. OBSERVER!" Krieg hollered, his muscles finally releasing, allowing him mobility again.

_I... I know, Krieg. I'm looking. She'll turn up eventually..._ Angel said slowly, her tone soft and even.

(Then let's go. We have to search for her. No matter how long it takes.) Krieg's sanity said, finally calming down. Angel hacked into their HUD and appeared before them, nodding softly. (And Angel?) It asked, Angel looking at them quizzically in response. (Please digistruct us a new mask, some Insta-Healths, and let us back into Sanctuary. We're going to help you and the others look for her, even if we have to die to do it.) the voice said evenly, Krieg nodding in agreement.

**End Chapter 2: Shellshock.**

_** I hope this chapter was good enough to compensate for the short length. I honestly don't know how long I'll have this story running, but it should be a few more chapters. Thanks to everyone reading out there. As always, read, review, and don't be afraid to PM me with any ideas, long comments, or thoughts you may have. Chao! **_


	3. The Son Returns

_**Author's Note:**_

_** This next chapter's probably not going to be extensively long, but I'll do what I can to make it entertaining. Hope you all enjoy it!**_

**Pandoran Nights Chapter 3: The Son Returns. Begin.**

Angel's digital face simply stared on at them as she herself was frozen by what she'd just heard.

(Angel, we don't have all day, we need you to do this. No matter what happens to us, we have to keep Maya safe. Even if that means keeping her safe from ourselves.) Krieg's inner voice said to the stunned siren. Krieg nodded in agreement.

"I... Okay. Your supplies should digistruct in your inventory in a few moments. I'll upload map data to you so you can reach the nearest fast-travel without too much trouble..." Angel replied, looking away.

(If there's something you're not telling us, now's the time to spill it.)

"If... If you come here... To my chambers instead of Sanctuary, you'll be safe. Not even my husband will argue with me if I let you stay here..." Angel said slowly.

"Nnnnnyyaah! The pepper guards advance and stuff their blistering redwoods in my retinas!" Krieg shouted.

(I had a feeling you'd offer to protect and help us. We need to atone for what we did up there.) Krieg's sanity said solemnly.

"Yes, but if Maya is still out there, she'll want to see you before you're torn limb from limb by the Crimson Raiders." Angel replied. "Atone later, after we've found her."

"AYYEEES!" Krieg bellowed, fully supporting the idea.

(Alright, two against one, I'm outvoted here. See you in a short while, Angel.)

"Of course. Feel free to Echo me if you need anything." She replied, signing off.

Krieg nodded to the hologram of her as it faded from view, the two minds and one body making their way towards the waypoint on their HUD. The picture was shaky and unstable as their device was beginning to tarnish after so much time and a lack of proper maintenance. They found the teleportation device with little issue, only running into a small group of skags on the trek.

"I'm going to force a digistruct hack to have you teleport into my chambers. We don't have time for you to go the long way. Fast Travel to Thousand Cuts and you'll instead be instantly teleported to my chambers." Angel said as Krieg activated the device. Krieg punched in the teleportation code for the Slab colony and the world became the familiar tunnel of blue and white light. However the small dirt mound and crudely painted New-U station of Thousand Cuts was instead the button to open the door to the Control Core Angel. However, even though it was obviously the same place, it was also obviously different. The containment tube and Eridium injectors were all gone, everything but the room was stripped away. In its place was a pink and red bed that was covered in frilly, obviously soft and outstandingly girly sheets. The walls had been repainted, given new colors of red and white in place of the Hyperion standard.

"Hello and um... Welcome to my room." Angel said, slightly embarrassed by having someone in her bedroom. Krieg looked around, his one visible eye roaming across the changed scenery once more.

(Yeah, does seem a lot cozier. Well, about as cozy as an evil corporation's containment cell can be, I'd say.) Krieg's inner voice commented, causing Angel to smile slightly.

"So um... Down to business. The last time I've seen Maya or any real trace of her was when you all were last at Sanctuary." She said, standing up from her seated position on her bed and walking over to a clearing in the room, waving her hand and a computer screen digistructing before her. An image of Maya during Krieg's rampage appeared on the screen. Krieg just twitched and his right arm began to grow, Maya immediately ducking under the table in fear and all the others rising to their feet in the same amount of time.

(Well, at least we know what happened now. How come Maya doesn't come back up from under the table?) Krieg's sanity asked Angel.

"In your rampage, you killed everything in your path, mutilated citizens, even decorated the resistance fist at the top of our levitation spire with intestines and various organs like some demented Christmas tree; there was no more footage after that, you destroyed everything, Krieg." Angel replied solemnly. Krieg's hands trembled slightly and he held his hands in shaking fists of anger.

"This... quiz in my brain... it will be wrenched forth aaaand ALL WILL BE SEVERED!" Krieg said, his tone growing louder and angrier as he spoke until he spun around and pointed a finger at Angel, his one visible eye squinted with rage.

"I... I know, Krieg. That's why I had you come to me. Not just for you to find Maya, but because I saw something interesting." Angel replied, rewinding the tape. She replayed it just mere moments before Krieg twitched in the video. There was a single flicker in the frames, like a portion of the tape had been corrupted, but only in a single section of the video recording. "I don't know what it is, but there's a chance it's not nothing. I'll keep investigating the tape, in the meantime, you uh... You should really take a bath or something. You smell worse than I've ever smelt you, friend." Angel said, grimacing and pointing towards a far wall of her room.

Krieg grumbled audibly before deciding to listen to the young siren, heading towards the wall she'd pointed to. (You know, she's really nice. Almost as nice as our siren, eh, big guy?) Krieg's inner voice asked his insane side. Krieg grunted softly in agreement, nodding as he walked casually toward the wall. Krieg eventually came up to a small panel on the wall with a button on it. Looking around for a moment, he quizzically pressed the button and looked on as the wall hummed, opening inward into a bathroom with a huge bath and a walk-in shower on the other side. Beautiful ivory colored tiles decorated the floor and cream and blue tiles made intricate patterns along the walls and ceiling. He walked in, looking about as the panel whirred closed behind him.

(Well, Big Guy, time to clean up. Won't be as nice as when Maya would help us, but it needs to be done. We smell like a dead skag buried in its own bile.) Krieg's inner voice commented as he walked up to the tub and began working the controls cautiously.

Outside the bathroom, Angel was watching the footage closely, working various different programs and hacks to clear up the distortion. What looked to be a white line of distortion came from off-frame to the back of Krieg's neck, and then disappeared after a mere instant, leaving no trace of ever having been there. _I shouldn't be surprised by how lousy this camera footage is, Marcus was never one for spending money, let alone spending money on good quality cameras. Jease, these look almost as old as the sniper rifle that Zero purchased a few months ago._ She mused.

It was at that time that a loud commotion from the bathroom caught Angel by surprise, scaring her to no end; her emotions nearly short circuiting a few light bulbs. She nervously walked up to the wall that the bathroom was hidden behind, knocking softly.

"Uh... Krieg? ...You uh... you alright in there? Do... um... Do you need some... um... help?" she asked, rapidly growing embarrassed and even more nervous by the current situation. _Please say no. Please say no. Please say no! PLEASE SAY NO!_ She thought to herself as she awaited an answer.

(No... We're... We're good. Just got hit with some cold water and the big guy punched a hole in the wall.) Krieg's inner voice replied in her mind. The siren audibly sighed, her discomfort fading in mere moments.

_Thank The Vaults he didn't say yes!_ Angel thought to herself, walking back to the video footage she'd been working on. _The next few days are going to be very difficult..._ She thought to herself, hearing another loud bang from behind the wall, followed by a cackle by Krieg.

"I'll taste the chicken in the turbulent prescriptions and govern them with my zealous questionnaire!" she immediately heard him shout, the sound of bending metal and crumpling plastic echoing from the wall as well.

_...For the both of us..._ Angel continued thinking, drooping her head and sighing once again.

**Several Days Later, In Sanctuary**

The Crimson Raider HQ was quiet, almost dead silent as Roland reviewed the latest findings from the other Vault Hunters.

"Raiders, we have a situation. Meet me in the HQ." Roland said, leaning over the holo-table.

"What's going on?" Lilith asked, sitting up from her reclined, lazy position on the tattered couch.

"Yeah, you usually don't talk like that unless, well... You always talk like that. What's up?" Mordecai responded.

"Our Psycho's disappeared." Roland replied dryly, crossing his arms.

"What?! That bastard's gone?! After what he did to us, how did he find enough time out of sight to disappear?!" Brick shouted, clenching his fists.

"I don't know, Brick. He's been bumming around what used to be the Dahl Headlands for quite some time now, then, nothing. It's almost like he found our blind spot." Roland answered.

"How would he do that? What would that lunatic even do to notice a satellite in the sky?!" Mordecai asked, also getting rather perturbed by the situation.

"I don't know." Roland said sternly, looking to the hunter. With that, the other Vault Hunters slowly made their way into the room. One by one, they piled in until all were in accordance: Zero, Salvador, Axton, and Gaige, as well as the original four. "Friends, something unsettling has happened. Krieg, the one who betrayed us, has disappeared. I don't know how, I don't know why, but he's gone. The last image of him we had was this." Roland stated, addressing them all. He then presented them a picture of the psycho rolling on the ground, digging his fingernails into his own scalp, seemingly in pain.

"Looks to me like the guilt finally got him and the piece of garbage offed himself." Axton commented, disdain for the deranged man obvious on his face.

"That's possible, but judging on what Angel's told us in the last few days, he didn't remember why he was wandering the wastelands. When he did, he just snapped. But even she doesn't know what happened to him. Let alone what happened to Maya for that matter." Roland replied, gesturing with his hand.

"We had his account in the digistruct network slashed, so if he did die, he's staying dead." Lilith said, sighing. "I just wish we'd gotten some answers out of him after what he did..." she continued, sighing.

"I trusted that man/ He then betrayed all of us/ I'll see his head roll." Zero said swiftly as even the cool assassin was far beyond bent by what the psycho had done.

"First, we need to find him and get some answers, soldier. If we're ever going to find Maya, we need to get him back into Sanctuary as soon as possible." Roland said, lifting a hand to halt the assassin.

"Hah! Now you're talkin' my language. Get his crazy ass up here and I'll beat the information out of him!" Brick shouted, cracking his knuckles. Just then, the holo-table lit up with a bright white and purple glow, Angel's holographic visage appearing above the table top.

"As much as I know you'd all like to beat the information out of Krieg, that won't be of use. I've been repairing the rather shoddy camera feed from that day and discovered something interesting. What Krieg did that day wasn't his fault." Angel said softly, eliciting mixed reactions from the onlookers.

"What do you mean?" Roland asked, surprised.

"While I was overseeing him, I've been working on tapping into people's minds at long range, and I managed to enter his. He really lost memory of everything that happened that day. But I managed to trace his movements back and found some of his hair. There were traces of a foreign chemical in his system." She continued.

"Where's this going, Angel?" Lilith asked, shifting on her hip.

"The chemical was the very same used to mutate Krieg into what he is now. After clearing up the video footage of that day, I found this..." Angel replied, showing the feed on the holo-table. "Now watch closely. See? There's a distortion in the video in a perfect line that stops right at his neck." She said, highlighting the image on the screen.

"Okay, what's that prove?" Roland asked.

"This is the same footage after it's been cleaned..." Angel said, replaying the footage. The distortion was gone, and this time, a small object sailed through the air, embedding itself in the back of Krieg's neck. It looked to be a dart of some sort, a small blinking light emitting from its back. "You see, after observing Krieg, I realized that he regretted what he'd done. When his memories returned, he tried to kill himself. And not like always, he was actually cracking his own head open: he was almost into his brain when I stopped him. He-

"You stopped him?!" Axton shouted at her, his eyes wide as he stepped toward the table, pointing a finger at her hologram.

"Yes. Now please listen. I read his thoughts. His feelings. He wasn't the culprit for that day. He was just the gun used to start a war." Angel said, practically stunning everyone.

"What do you mean "Start a war"?" Roland asked, crossing his arms in thought.

"Krieg was used as a diversion. I don't know who, or why, but I can only guess that Maya was the target. Now if you still intend to beat the answers out of Krieg, he will come to you willingly. After I contacted him, his inner, sane voice asked me for the following..." Angel said, playing what Krieg had said.

_"Please digistruct us a new mask, some Insta-Healths, and let us back into Sanctuary. We're going to help you and the others look for her, even if we have to die to do it."_ It said.

"How are we supposed to trust him? After what he did, he's lucky we didn't nuke his ass once we found him!" Brick shouted, practically going into his berserk just from hearing it.

(Then you're free to nuke us once we've arrived. Krieg and I have been staying with Angel for the past day or two, working to find out what happened. We want Maya back and safe just as much as you do, so you can go ahead and lock us up, execute us, anything you like once we're there, just let us help you all find her. She... She was all we had...) Krieg's inner voice said through a Psychic Link with Angel.

"And Zero... I'm sorry for keeping this a secret... even from you..." Angel said solemnly, her voice and even her digitized appearance showing deep regret.

"Angel, it's okay/ I am not upset with you.../ Just... very surprised." Zero replied, reaching out toward her projection, making her smile slightly.

"But even if this is all true and Krieg's innocent, we need to keep him locked up." Roland said.

"Wuh... We... S-swallow the... judgment-t..." Krieg said, forcing out as close to the proper response as possible.

Roland nodded in affirmation and Angel then turned off the connection, using her powers to manipulate the digistruct network to send Krieg to Sanctuary.

_**Pandoran Nights Chapter 3 end.**_

_** Hey, everyone, transcendantviewer here. I'm so sorry for the huge gap in uploads for this story! A lot's happened and my interest in writing sort of dropped off for a while. Huge writer's block hit me like a freight train and I just sort of stroked out for a while. I'll try to keep updates going, but they might still be under long delays. I'll do the best I can to satisfy all you wonderful readers out there.**_


	4. In Pursuit of Bloodiness

**Pandoran Nights Chapter 4. **

Stepping out onto the concrete was as new as it was nostalgic. The shifting winds howled softly above the ramshackle buildings and the fist atop the spire, bringing with it the smells of his once welcoming home. Krieg stood at the precipice of the transport station in Sanctuary, his friends all gathered around him. His hands bound and his prized weapon held in the hands of another. The hands of the opposite side of the coin that was Krieg. Zero.

"I do not like this/ This entire situation/ It seems suspicious." Zero said, holding Krieg's buzz axe in his left hand, his Law Pistol in his right.

"That's why Krieg's here, Soldier. This situation has too many missing clues." Roland said, taking the buzz axe from Zero and looking to Krieg. "And he may not have answers, but a gun sometimes has fingerprints from the one who pulled the trigger." Roland said, turning on his heel and beginning to walk towards Raider's HQ, the others following suit.

"This buffoon had best take care to not harm Clork or I will remove his legs like Jack did to Phillipe." Tannis said, watching as several Crimson Raiders hoisted Krieg, rather skillfully, upside down, into the ceiling chair in Tannis' office.

"Don't worry. Your uh... Friend will be perfectly fine." Roland replied, turning towards the upstairs, into the command room, the others in tow. An uneasy silence filled the room as all the Vault Hunters gathered around their leader. "Okay, Angel. First thing's first. Don't go behind my back again. We're a team. Remember that." He said, looking to her. The timid siren nodded in affirmation. "Good. Now. You followed Krieg for quite some time. Did you find that dart in the video? It may be our only lead."

"Sadly, no. I could not find it anywhere. It must have dissolved in the days that followed the incident." Angel said softly.

"Okay... I don't want to be the one to say this, but are we just going to ignore the gorilla upside down in the other room?" Axton asked, looking at the others.

"I know you don't trust him, soldier; we've all got our doubts. But I trust Maya's judgment. And after hearing that there's actually something in his head keeping him in line? I'm hard pressed to believe he didn't do that on purpose." Roland said, looking over to him.

"Yeah, and he wanted to kill himself after remembering. You don't do that unless you really regret it." Mordecai chimed in.

"We've spent enough time talking about the past, let's worry about the present. Angel, you said that you've been scanning Krieg's mind, right? What have you found?" Lilith said, calling everyone's attention to the timid siren.

"Nothing but white noise, thoughts of meat and dismemberment, and Maya; his mind's clearer than one would expect." She replied softly, a slight smile on her face.

"Nothing about the incident?" Lilith asked, one of her eyebrows raising in curiosity.

"Nothing until he remembered on his own. He was under a fog. His body was not his own at that time. When he regained awareness, he believed that Sanctuary had been attacked by bandits and he somehow had been blown off the edge or something." Angel responded.

"Not too far from the truth, actually..." Axton commented.

"Enough, soldier. I know you're upset by what happened. We all are. But it's not his fault." Roland replied.

With that, a loud, blood curdling scream echoed from the room below. A recognizable, young and decidedly feminine scream: a scream that came from one very recognizable Mechromancer down in the other room.

"Great... Who forgot to brief her that Krieg was on the ceiling?" Roland asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose before looking up to the others for some sort of reaction. After being met with simple shrugs by his allies, he just sighed audibly before waving dismissively, the others, save Lilith, all slowly funneling out of the confining room.

"What the _Fuck_ do you mean "forgot to tell me?!" Gaige fumed, several moments later, her volume audible throughout the entirety of Sanctuary.

Salvador visibly sweat-dropped as he held his hands out defensively, incredibly unnerved by the young girl, surprisingly enough. It was at this very painful moment that Axton walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Gaige's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I forgot to tell you. This whole thing doesn't sit very well with me either." Axton said softly, pulling the young woman into a kind embrace. She instantly softened at his touch, her ire still seethed beneath the surface, however, it quickly settled.

"I'll forgive you this time, turret boy, but don't let it happen again or I'm having Deathtrap take your "girl" out for a night on the town. And you know where that'll lead..." she replied, adopting a sly smile as Axton audibly gulped, fearing the worst. Following that situation, Roland and Lilith slowly made their way down the stairs, immediately realizing exactly why Gaige screamed like she had.

Kreig was dangling from the ceiling, as they left him, however, his one visible eye and neck were tinted obviously redder than usual due to blood flow, though his poker face was impeccable. All of this compounded to create a look that could only be described as a "Nightmarish Spiderman" as Gaige had said in the midst of her terrified rant. Lilith gasped softly, placing her left hand at her chest, as if to hold her heart steady at the horrifying sight of Krieg's disturbing visage staring down at the two of them coming down the steps.

"That... Is legitimately disturbing..." Roland said as he stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"The blue piranhas nipping at my nose play such a sweet soliloquy of sandwiches." Krieg said, obviously more bored than uncomfortable.

"Should... Should we take him down before he... uh... gives one of us a heart attack?" Lilith asked, still holding her chest, her heart only settling down just now.

"Normally, I'd say yes, but this is possibly the best way to keep him restrained we've got in Sanctuary. My safe hasn't been structurally the same since Maya lost a duel with Zero." Roland replied, still looking up at the suspended psycho above.

(Maybe it would be better if you all just chained us up over the edge or something?) Krieg's inner voice commented, using Lilith's mind as a conduit.

"Wah! Holy shit! Voice in my head!" Lilith shouted, startled greatly, taking a step back and holding her temples.

"Take it easy, Lil, we all heard it." Brick replied.

"Yeah, but you didn't hear it _inside your head_!" Lilith shouted at him, still clutching her head.

(Just take it easy, siren. I'm only trying to help.) Krieg's sanity said in a smooth, calm voice.

"What do you mean help?" Roland asked, looking up at Krieg.

(I've been inside Krieg's head for as long as he's been Krieg. I know what we're capable of. I know that if... something happened... these chains and a bad case of vertigo won't be enough stop him.) The disembodied voice replied, echoing throughout the room, Krieg nodding in agreement. (Here's what you should do. Take a big, long chain and wrap us up in it like a body for mummification. Make sure it's the thickest, strongest chain you've got too. Then dangle us over the edge of the city. Watch us in shifts and do NOT let us loose. This is the only way I can guarantee the safety of the city if we get dosed again somehow.) the voice said, its words soft and relatively quiet, but carrying a heavy weight with them. So heavy, in fact that even the members of the Raiders standing outside felt discomfort with the plan. After a long pause, Roland spoke up.

"Give us a few moments to consider." he said, and the group began heading outside and over to Zed's Clinic to make sure the hanging lunatic couldn't hear.

"I don't know. Even if Krieg is a traitor to the Crimson Raiders and all of Sanctuary at large, he doesn't deserve something like that." Roland said out loud to the group.

"I agree with you/ Not even he deserves that/ But if for safety..." Zero replied, trailing off, deep in thought.

"I-if ah may?" Zed said, drawing their attention.

"Zed? You've got something to add?" Roland asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Now... ah don't know the big S.O.B. that well, but from what ah've seen... Well... Beneath all a that meat 'n murder... lies a heart a gold." Zed said in his traditional southern drawl and soft speaking voice.

"But, do you think we should do that to him?" Gaige asked, her eyebrows furrowed with uncertainty.

"Ah believe he said it for our protection. His heart a gold's reachin' out to us. Let's not hurt 'em. He wants to keep us safe, so let's ease his conscience." Zed replied softly, looking down at Gaige before turning his attention to Roland, who in turn nodded in approval.

"Then it's settled. We'll suspend him over the edge of Sanctuary so he doesn't have to worry about hurting anyone. We'll all take shifts watching him and surveying the planet for signs of Maya." He said, the others all nodding to show their understanding.

Content with the plan at that point, the group returned to the Crimson Raider HQ to tell Krieg of their decision.

"We have your answer. We'll follow your suggestion and suspend you over the edge of Sanctuary, but we're going to all take shifts watching you and monitoring planetside for Maya." Roland told the suspended Psycho and his inner saner voice.

(I'm glad you listened. It's for the best of everyone that you all do this to us.) the voice said in response, Krieg nodding in agreement.

"Yes, yes, this is all well and good, but can we please remove the hanging, murderous baboon from Clork now? I am growing increasingly uncomfortable with both his treatment and the greatly increased quotient of breathing individuals within my lab." Tannis interjected, interrupting the moment.

"We'll have him out of your hair in no time, Tannis." Roland replied, walking over to where Krieg was suspended. He, Brick, Mordecai and Axton all worked to remove him from the ceiling and undo his bindings while Lilith Phasewalked away to retrieve the heaviest chain she could find to restrain him with, returning in a blinding flash before the men had even f, returning in a blinding flash before the men had even finished lowering the hulk of a man to the ground.

"Gaige, you, Salvador and Brick: tie him up in the chain. When you're done, go and secure the chain to the Resistance Fist in the center of town. Zero, when they finish securing Krieg in the chain, lead him to the edge of the city. I'll take first watch for signs of Maya and you'll get first guard of Krieg." Roland said, the others all following his instructions to the letter and in about two minutes, all was in position and the Raiders, Vault Hunters, and a gathering crowd of Sanctuary citizens overlooked the "incarceration" of the Ex-Vault Hunter, as many have come to call him.

"Krieg: you have shown all of us that you truly are innocent and are not a traitor to Sanctuary and the Crimson Raiders. You are hereby reinstated as a Crimson Raider and welcome back on the team. However, for the time being, in order to protect Sanctuary and the Crimson Raiders you again serve, we must imprison you in the most extreme manner possible." Roland said in a sincerely solemn tone.

Krieg merely turned around to face the crowd with slumped shoulders and what looked to be a heavy burden on his conscience before saying the following: "This poop train conductor does not blame the statuary or the ascendant. Merely that the pain meat was weak. Too weak to protect his Meat Maiden..." he then grew silent for several moments, his resolve steeling visibly before continuing. "BUT ALL WILL CHANGE AND KRIEG WILL STAND AGAIN WITH ALL!" he shouted, a tear rolling don his mask from his one visible eye. His eye was alight with a single emotion that none of them had ever seen in there before: Determination. Steadfast determinations to earn back the trust and friendship that he'd lost and a determination to hold on to it with everything he was worth and never let it go again. He stood in silence for another moment before speaking once more, taking a step back towards the ledge, not turning around. "THE TROUNCER OF FLESH AND LEAFY FRIDGES WILL RETURN! WITH! HONOOORR!" he bellowed, leaning backward as he finished his last syllable, falling off the edge of the city, now being suspended by his chain prison, an indomitable drive to find their missing team member now renewed to full vigor by their insane teammate.

**Chapter 4: The Pursuit of Bloodiness. End.**

_** I hope you all enjoy this new chapter. I've been stuck for quite some time and I apologize if this feels like filler, but writer's block hits me pretty hard sometimes. Anyway, as always, read, review, and PM me whenever! Thank you faithful readers!**_


	5. Empty Nightmares

_**Author's Note:**__** I wanted to say this quickly before getting into the story. To anyone having trouble with this or any of my other stories using intermission lines, as I call them: when I upload chapters, the intermission lines don't carry over, so it can get confusing to the reader how paragraphs simply end and a completely new topic sprouts up out of nowhere. I've tried to remedy this multiple times, but it doesn't work. I apologize to all of you who have been confused by this. I will be trying something else to serve its purpose from now on. That said, enjoy the new chapter.**_

__**Pandoran Nights Chapter 5**

Chilling isn't it? Having just a memory to cling to for happiness? What about looking back at that memory and seeing that you're the reason that memory isn't a reality anymore? You feel it yet –that stinging, burning, gnawing pain in your chest and the growing desire to weep at its loss? If you do, then you know what I feel at this exact moment. When you close your eyes, do you see the smile of the one you hold dear and feel that it's gone forever? When you see that smile, do you feel an emptiness inside that you can't fill no matter how much murder and blood and gore you try to cram into it? No? Is it just me then? Right, _I'm _the weird one. Anyway, that emptiness has been plaguing me for as long as I can remember. All I have left of what used to fill the void are just old echo recordings of her and faded, chopped up memories of a time when I was trusted and even befriended.

Though it's not like you can hear me; I'm sitting here, chained up like a rabid dog, dangling off the side of a floating city, and talking inside the head of a raving psychopath. But, right now, raving isn't the right word. He's completely silent, just staring out into the distance. Impressive enough, he hasn't even blinked in the last half hour. I'm surprised the both of us can even still see out of that eye at this point.

**External Perspective.**

Krieg dangled in complete and utter silence over the edge of the city, his gaze transfixed to the horizon and his mind far clearer than it ever had been. During the entirety of his time hanging and bound, a freely flowing stream of painful tears has rolled down his mask from his left eye, functioning as the only thing keeping his exposed eye from drying out in the unforgiving winds of the high altitude.

(Hey, you alright there, pal? Usually, you don't let me get soliloquies like that until you're in a daze after beating the crud out of some sort of monster.) Krieg's sanity said, addressing its dominant portion as he continued silently staring out at the precipice of land and sky. (...Uh... Hello? You out there?) Again, the disembodied consciousness was met with no response. (Well, I can already tell this is going to be a fun time...) it replied, returning to silence and joining him in appreciating the skies and shifting earth below.

"Hey, I'm here to take next shift." Gaige said, walking up behind Salvador.

"¡Por fin! Un momento mas and I would have perdido la cabeza!" he shouted with relief. "He's been quieter and stiffer than mi gran abuela muerta. Kind of scary if you ask me." He continued, pointing down at the motionless psychopath as he dangled below.

"Really? I can see why. Well, anyway, I got'cha from here." Gaige replied, patting him on the shoulder as he stood up from his seated position. Sal nodded, gave her a grin and a thumb's up and headed to the HQ. As Salvador left, Gaige sat down in his previous spot. "Hey, big guy... I've got some food if you're hungry." She said, looking down at him. She was only greeted with silence as the hulking man continued his motionless stare out into the distance. "...Hello... Krieg?" she asked after receiving no response.

(Come on, pal, if you don't give her something, she's going to feel alone. Would you really be that cold to the little lady? She was one of the first to accept us, after all.) Krieg's inner voice said, but it too was given only silence as a response. (Just give her something, a grunt, a scream, a gurgle, anything.)

Krieg grumbled softly, finally acknowledging reality. Gaige heard it enough to be visibly perked up after receiving his reply.

"Finally! Welcome back to reality, big guy! Damn, after three days of complete silence, you finally said _something_!" she shouted, overjoyed. "Now how about having a little food to go with your water today? It's been days and you haven't been eating." She said, summoning Deathtrap and handing him a bowl of skag-roast stuffing with some meat on top. Deathtrap then grumbled in his regular deep tone before hovering out towards the dangling psycho. Krieg looked at the machine before him, taking a whiff of the food in its hand. "It's okay, big guy, he won't look at you while you eat and I can't see you. He'll just lift up your mask and you can dig in." Gaige said in a soothing voice. Krieg looked up at her for a moment, finally feeling exactly how exhausted he'd become after the days of fasting out of determination. His steely resolve crumbled and he became jittery, nodding readily to be fed. "It's good to see you've gotten your appetite back, big guy. Maya's going to want to see you in tippy-top shape when she gets back. Don't disappoint her!" she said, smiling as Deathtrap slowly lifted the psycho's mask and held the bowl up to him.

Despite the altitude, the winds were slower today, making the process far less arduous than it could have been otherwise. Krieg ate the entire bowl greedily, only slowing when Gaige would snap her fingers, causing Deathtrap to retract the bowl and hold out a bottle of water with a straw for him to sip from to keep from getting himself sick.

"Holy crap, man, did you even taste that?" Gaige asked as Deathtrap now covered Krieg's face once more. Krieg merely grunted and nodded as affirmation. "Glad to hear it. We're all searching for Maya as best we can, so don't fret, big guy. You'll have your "Meat Maiden" back real soon." Gaige said with a smile, looking down at her large companion.

Krieg nodded and then said his first words in nearly three days. "The circulating train stations trample gently at the kazoo factory!"

"Uh... I'm just going to assume that that meant you're feeling better. After everything that's happened, I just want to kick back, relax, and OBLITERATE THE PIECE OF SCRAP THAT FUCKED WITH MY FRIENDS!" Gaige replied, seemingly calm before bursting into a fit of rage, releasing all her frustrations in a rant that all but brought a prideful tear to Krieg's eye. "Guaaah! I'm going to upgrade DT so much he's going to liquefy his enemies without even touching them! And if this _FUCKER_ thinks that he can _get away_ with what he did to you, he's got _another_ thing coming! Oh, _noOOOoooo_... I'm going to show _you_ how to control your anger and bloodlust like _I _had to for _years_! And you're going to show _him_ what you can do all hopped up on mutagens! BY CHOKING HIM WITH HIS OWN SPLEEN! Are you with me, Krieg?!" she hollered, looking down at her psycho friend with a crazy look in her eye that even he had to respect.

Krieg broke out into a fit of approving laughter as he replied. "My Salisbury hula-hoop shall deck the halls with bloody mary and spread the love like a rapture of binary chocolate bumps! YOU HAVE MY AXE!" he shouted with deranged glee, ending his ranting response with fitful laughter in practical unison with Gaige's.

"Now _that's_ what I like to hear! But wait... Stay right here. I need to clear this with the team first. We can smash the system all we want, as long as no one but our damn, dirty enemies get hurt." Gaige said, stopping mid-maniacal laugh to sprint off and tell the others. Krieg also stopped laughing by this point, looking about in mild confusion when he realized she was gone.

(Well, now we wait and see what happens. If the rest of the guys rule that we're staying put, that works too, but I'll admit, even I'm getting more than a little stir crazy out here.) Krieg's sanity commented.

"Then I shall dangle. Dangle with spiteful reprieve! LIKE ALL SHALL SWALLOW!" Krieg shouted, grinning ominously beneath his mask as thoughts of rending the flesh of the one that had ruined his happy existence played through his head repeatedly.

(I don't know whether to say "That's the spirit" or "Seek help" at this moment, there, pal.) Krieg's inner voice commented, causing him to begin to laugh insanely.

Gaige now stood before Roland and various others in the Crimson Raiders HQ, slightly panting from her full sprint to the building.

"Gaige. What are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching Krieg." Roland said, looking at her quizzically.

"I know, I know, I know, but I've got an idea! Now hear me out completely, and I think Angel will back me up on this one here, but I have a plan to train Krieg's immune system to reject the mutagen that sent him into all "Hulk Smash" mode before!" Gaige exasperated.

"Uh... Wow. How would we do that, exactly? Without, well, "Hulk Smash" mode?" Roland asked, curiously.

"You can't be considering this! We'd be giving him the same crap that set him off and killed half the damn town!" Lilith shouted, her eyes widening.

"I know! That's why we'd be giving him exponentially smaller doses and upping them by teensy-weensy amounts while keeping him heavily sedated! His _body_ just needs to build immunity to the junk, I never said he needed to be _conscious_ for it!" Gaige fired back, furiously defending her plan, even against the Firehawk herself.

"Both of you, calm down. Angel. You've observed the guy almost as much as Maya at this point, what do you think?" Roland said, lifting his hand to quell the argument before it even began.

"I don't know about it being foolproof, but with us, nothing ever is. Aside from that, it sounds much more promising than just keeping him chained under the city and hoping nothing bad happens." She said after taking several moments to think.

"Right. Gaige, how long would it take to get his tolerance high enough for him to be useful in a fight?" Roland asked, turning back to the Mechromancer, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Depends. With some help and some gene therapy, I could make him immune to the stuff completely, but that'd take months. Not to mention, that might adversely affect how useful he is in a fight. I still need to learn how his transformation works before I have anything concrete. Earliest, a week from now, we start testing after learning more about him and what makes him tick." She replied, starting to ramble as she thought.

"I can offer my not inconsiderable talents as well. I too am very curious as to how the ex-experiment functions." Tannis said, walking up the stairs, having heard the conversation from downstairs.

"With her help, it should be much easier to run the tests we'd need, but it's still going to take time." Gaige said in response to Tannis' interjection.

"I'll allow you to run the tests, but he's staying under for the entirety of it. And I mean with enough tranquilizing agents to drop a Rakk Hive. Understood? There's no room for risks." Roland said, looking at the two.

"Got'cha!"

"Most certainly. We'll begin concocting the necessary restraining agents immediately. I shall retrieve Mordecai from his surveillance so he can assist." Tannis replied. The two then headed out of the room, Tannis using the stairs and Gaige running and sprinting off of the balcony to go tell Krieg the good and not as good news.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod! Krieg! Roland said yes! We're going to start testing right away! But... there's a problem... We have to keep you heavily sedated the entire time... SooOOOoooo... you're going to be out cold for maybe weeks... Sorry, big guy." Gaige said, leaning over Sanctuary's edge to make eye-contact with him.

(Can't say we weren't expecting this. It's our best shot. Let's go with it.) Krieg's sanity said.

"Mmmmm... May the grinding banana pollywogs commence in my bacon! The vigilant quasar of villainous virtue and visceral virtual realities shall rise! VICTORIOUS!" Krieg shouted gleefully.

"That's what I'm talkin' about! Alright, let's get you up here and sawing logs!" Gaige said, pulling out her Echo and calling up the others. "Krieg's onboard! Let's get this rolling, suckas!" she said, her smile practically audible.

"Ready on this end, chica! Hoist 'em up, cabrones!" Salvador shouted, as he, Zero, Brick, and Axton all pulled the psycho up back onto Sanctuary's surface.

Krieg's last conscious moment on Sanctuary that day was of him once again facing all his allies, hands bound with a stern look of determination in his eye. "The pain poncho will be colorful once again." He said staring out at them all before Mordecai pulled back the bolt of his rifle, loading the tranquilizer round and pulling the trigger, dropping the monster of a man in seconds.

"I'm sorry, soldier. Sleep well for now." Roland said as Krieg was on the verge of consciousness. The psycho nodded weakly, his eye closing and his muscles relaxing visibly.

"Not to ruin the moment here, but, you think he's got to talk to that voice in his head when he's sleeping?" Axton asked, causing some of the others to chuckle while Brick and Salvador carried the unconscious Vault Hunter into Scooter's Garage.

(Well. Welcome to uh... This... apparently...)

**End Pandoran Nights Chapter 5: Empty Nightmares.**

_**And that's chapter 5, everyone. As always, read, review, and feel free to PM me if you've got stuff to say! Stay frosty.**_


	6. Silent Revelations

_**Author's Note:**__** Before I start the chapter, I'd like everyone to know that I'm sorry about the confusion in my story thus far. No matter what I try, the line breaks don't stick. I'll be doing the upload manually this time around and force the page breaks. Maybe that'll work. With that out of the way, I'd like to also apologize about the long delays between updates. I don't really have any excuses; I've been lazy and stuck in writer's block for the most part of it. So without any further ado, here's chapter 6.**_

**Pandoran Nights Chapter 6**

(...Shit... Not even a few hours and we're already out of topics to talk about...) the disembodied voice inside Krieg's skull muttered, its whispering travelling out in all directions within the darkness of Krieg's unconscious mind.

Krieg floated aimlessly in the inky blackness of his dreamlessness with his legs crossed and his arms crossed over his chest. He grumbled, nodding the affirmative to his lingering sanity's comment.

(...This is not going to be a fun week... I can tell already... Please... Please _Maya_ let those two scientists inject us with something so we can dream! ...Anything's better than this boredom!) the voice shouted with exasperation. Once again, Krieg's disembodied sanity was met with Krieg nodding in agreement.

_**Several Days Later: Outside Krieg's Head, Pierce Station.**_

"How's the research, Little Slab?" Brick asked, walking up to Gaige as she stored one of her guns.

"It goes..." she replied, sighing audibly. She then walked out to the balcony with him, leaning against it to relax a bit, rubbing her eyes. "I tell you, Tannis is _determined_! I can hardly keep up, and I spent an afternoon bleeding out and building myself a new arm!"

"Yeah, she always was a tireless worker. Just from all the echo logs we found back in my day, we could tell that. She was here for around... Hey, Lil! How long did Tannis' echoes go for before we gave up on 'em?!" he shouted off the balcony to Lilith down below.

"Like... 2000 or so?" she said up to him, walking into Pierce Station.

"And those were 2000 Pandoran days! So multiply that number by... What?" Brick asked, looking down at Gaige.

"About 1.5, give or take." She replied. "That's pretty determined. Didn't she go insane and kill off one or two of her coworkers to be alone and regret it or something?"

"Yep. Killed a girl over her chair... Good times..." he answered, crossing his arms and closing his eyes for a moment. When the silence between the two persisted, his eyes opened again and noticed the somewhat confused look in Gaige's eyes as she stared at the towering man. "What?" he asked.

"Uh... Nothing... Just... Lot of thoughts right now..." she said, sighing audibly.

"I've heard that sigh before." Brick interjected, lowering himself to be seated against the concrete of the wall. "What's eatin' you, Little Slab?" he asked, thumping the ground beside himself with his fist to offer her a seat.

Without much protest, Gaige heeded his request and sat down, grumbling as she did so. "Ugh... There's just so much going on, you know? We've got damn near no idea who's screwing with the big guy or who took Maya, or if the two are even related events! I haven't made a lick of progress in understanding the sleeping giant and Tannis is running me ragged! ME! Of all people, she's burning ME out! Then there's all the crap going on with Athena and that weird thing that saved her last week... Oh! And let's not forget the last ingredient in this Clusterfuck Surprise of a week! Axton still hasn't made a single goddamn move on me! I mean, I know I'm younger than the rest of you guys, but come on! I'm pretty goddamn sexy if I do say so myself and he hasn't even stuck a hand up my skirt yet! I'm starting to feel like the fuckin'..." she stopped, breaking her rant. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked up from her hands that had been moving rather emphatically as she spoke to the all but stunned colossus of a man sitting beside her. Her cheeks burned crimson and her throat grew dry. "...That... That wasn't all in my head just now... Was it?" she asked him.

"Not even a little..." he replied, shaking his head in the negative, his tone and body posture showing his awkwardness, but he quickly shrugged it off, sighing. "So the soldier's not even trying, eh? I've had girls that seemed young compared to me. Had more than a few that seemed damn near fun sized to say the least!" he said, quickly adopting his own blunt brand of humor, making the young lady beside him giggle slightly, breaking the awkwardness for good. "...Sounds to me like he's just trying not to rush you or seem like just some perv to ya. Glory hound or not, he's got some sort of brain in his head..." he said, chuckling. Gaige elbowed him in one of his biceps. "Just talk that bit out with him and see how it goes. Everybody's always available for advice. Not just me, you know." He remarked with a grin.

"Ah, I know, but you're the easiest to talk to. At least it's been that way since that whole thing when Ax and I were planning our first date." Gaige said, smirking. She then stood up and saluted him with a grin on her face. "Anyway, thanks, Brick. I'll be sure to put an end to this dry spell once and for all after this." She said with confidence and heading out of the station, leaping over the balcony to go faster.

As she finished her statement, Lilith walked up onto the balcony, catching the last bit of her address. "Not even going to ask..." she muttered, nursing a cup of coffee in her hands. She settled into the frame of the doorway and looked out at the sky above, taking a sip of the steaming brew. "So, did she mention how the two of them are doing?"

"Slow." Brick said, shifting down to the ground to begin his daily regimen of pushups.

"Yeah, I can't say I'm surprised. Based on the reports I'm seeing, they're having trouble just mapping his DNA. Apparently, it's so bad that it's almost unrecognizable as human by the computers." She mentioned, taking a sip.

After hearing this, Brick's motions slowed and he looked to the side to catch her eyes with his as he began speaking. "I knew it was pretty twisted from the experiments, but really?"

Lilith nodded, shifting on her hip to retrieve her Echo. "Yeah, check it out. I just got the message a few minutes ago. I hoped things were going better." She answered, turning it on. Out projected an image of Krieg before it zoomed in on his arm. It moved in gradually at first, but rapidly increased in speed and magnitude until it reached the cellular level, showing that his cells possessed larger than average nuclei and rather thick Cell Membranes, accounting for his ordinarily impressive levels of durability.

"I've heard of thick-skinned, but that's just ridiculous." Brick muttered, crossing his arms, chuckling slightly.

"You don't know the half of it. Keep watching, you'll get to see what his cells actually do when he transforms..." she replied, pulling up another piece of footage. This one was of the same cells, but alongside it, was a video time-stamped to be happening at the exact same time, but was showing his entire body. In his unconsciousness, he was lacerated repeatedly until he was nearly dead, and then given a massive dose of adrenaline. His body crackled and changed, just as it always had. His cells, however, were actually bursting due to how quickly they were replicating, healing his every wound instantaneously, then, they began growing, to nearly twice their original size, their cell membranes thickening and condensing.

"Holy nutballs..."

"Yeah. You're telling me. This makes the third time I've watched it in 5 minutes, and I still can't fully understand what's happening." Lilith replied with mild exasperation.

"No wonder they can't figure out how he does it, his DNA must be about as screwed up as Jack's face."

"Well, anyway, we're about at that point where it's back to the waiting again." Lilith counters, scratching her upper arm.

"Not a surprise."

"I guess I'll check up on what Zero's doing." She replied, crossing her arms and heading out the door. Upon exiting the building, a gust of air blows her hair and an eerie silence pervades the area around her. "Zero, how many times am I going to have to tell you to stop doing that?" she asks rhetorically, turning around to see the enigmatic assassin standing his full height behind her.

"That's dependent upon your perseverance. Can you count forever?" he replies, crossing his arms.

"If I wasn't still reeling from what I just saw a few minutes ago, I'd be pissed at you for the sarcasm. Right now, though, I need a distraction. Krieg's making little to no progress and I'm getting stir crazy. Want to go to the edge of the city and train me to snipe better? I want to see if I can put down a Thresher at a thousand yards like you, killer." Lilith asks, smirking. Her lure, however, fails to catch the assassin's attention as Zero shakes his head in the negative, causing her smirk to drop immediately. "Well why not?"

"Date night." He answers simply, projecting a heart from his faceplate. He then, seemingly with sass, turns and walks away, tall and proud.

"I'm keeping a tally of how many times you sass me, you ninja dork!" she shouts after him, realizing he's mocking her by not simply disappearing. He does not respond, and instead rounds a corner towards the Black Market and disappears from view. "Well shit. I'm out of ideas." Lilith mutters to herself, crossing her arms and sighing.

This moment of exasperation and boredom is soon interrupted, however, by a loud bang and a plume of black smoke billowing out of the roof of Scooter's Garage.

"...Shit..."

**End Chapter 6: Silent Revelations.**

_**Sorry for the long delay for not a lot of progress, everybody. Ideas have been few and far between recently. Well, anyway, thanks for the patience and as always: read, review, and feel free to send me a PM. Stay frosty, my friends!**_


End file.
